The present invention relates to the field of content sharing and, more particularly, to a bandwidth-sensitive content sharing system.
The use of mobile devices for business-related functions like online collaboration and online meetings is on the rise. As the power and functionality of these mobile devices like tablet computers continues to increase, mobile devices will become a key operating component, much like desktop computers.
However, mobile devices are resource-constrained, meaning that a mobile device often has a limited amount of power or network connection speed; particularly when compared to their non-mobile counterparts (e.g., a desktop computer). A variety of techniques have been employed by mobile devices and the software systems that they most frequently rely upon to address these resource constraints.
Most approaches to handling resource constraints focus on controlling resource consumption by the mobile device; typically, changing settings that consume resources when not needed. While these techniques are beneficial for the mobile device, they do not address resource consumption caused by data received, such as during an online content sharing session. Data usage is as key of a concern as power usage, specifically when a mobile device is not subscribed to an unlimited data plan. The task of monitoring data usage is generally left to the user of the mobile device.